1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electrical receptacles and, more particularly, to a highly compact code-certified self-contained receptacle (SCR) including a flush-mounted housing and snap-in receptacle that can be easily installed into a wood window sill, or any other solid material surface having a minimum of ½″ in thickness.
2. Description of the Background
Many people have been installing permanent electric window sill candles throughout their houses for decorative effect. In addition, there is a growing demand for new construction and/or retrofit lighting systems. To install these improvements in existing homes having a limited number of outlets/receptacles, one or more extension cords are usually required. If the intent is to place electric candles in more than one window, then the unsightly electric cords typically spoil the decorative effect. Moreover, the multiple cords create potentially unsafe situations and cause many house fires. New home construction often includes the installation of a sufficient number of electric outlets/receptacles, with many located directly below a window. However, even this fails to provide for permanent electric window sill candles which must plug directly into the wooden window sill.
Existing electrical receptacles typically employ a generally rectangular housing assembly with a dual-outlet receptacle. These duplex outlet/receptacles are widely used for residential and commercial applications. They usually have a depth dimension for the housing of about 2 inches or more to house the contacts and any other internal components, a length of about 4 inches, and a width of about 2 inches. Unfortunately, with dimensions on this scale the existing outlet/receptacles are not well suited for new construction and/or retrofit installation into solid material walls or window sills. They are simply too bulky. Moreover, once installed the receptacles do not appear flush, but instead protrude outward a small distance from the wall. Consequently, there is a significant commercial demand for a more compact self-contained receptacle (SCR). Prior improvements to wall outlet/receptacles have been largely focused on safety features. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,372,987 to Ha discloses a safety guard device for an electrical wall outlet which includes a base plate adapted to be fixed to an electrical receptacle. Locking means are also provided for locking the plates relative to each other when the electrical receptacle is covered by the cover plate. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,739,450 to Misencik shows a ground fault receptacle with compact component arrangement which employs a pre-assembly of molded plastic carrier elements supporting a sensing transformer, grounded neutral transformer, trip solenoid, and hybrid electronic circuit all disposed within the housing. However, there have been no known efforts to make a conventional wall outlet receptacle more compact and flush-fitting without violating existing electrical codes. Accordingly, it would be greatly advantageous to provide a single-outlet self-contained receptacle (SCR) that is extremely compact and flush-fitting, and which is well suited for new construction installation, as well as retrofit installation in existing construction, in solid material. This self-contained receptacle (SCR) can be “back wired” into the nearest power source.